Two scientists doing groundbreaking research work on deriving powerful painkillers from local snails for severe pain, epilepsy and neurodegenerative disorders have been conferred national honors.
President Arroyo has named Lourdes Cruz National Scientist and awarded the Legion of Honor, rank of Grand Officer, to Baldomero Olivera.
In 2007, Olivera was chosen as “Scientist of the Year” by the Harvard Foundation. Cruz received the Outstanding ASEAN Scientist and Technologist Award in 2001.
Cruz, an academician from the National Academy of Science and Technology, is currently doing research on neuroactive peptides and other marine toxins at the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.
Olivera’s group, which includes Cruz, made a breakthrough discovery of a family of biomolecules they collectively called conotoxins, from Conus sp. marine snails (Cone shells) collected in tropical waters in the Philippines.
These biomolecules are widely used in neuroscience research today in the study of ion channels and neuro-muscular synapses.
Olivera graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1960. He finished his doctoral degree in Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology in 1966, and rendered post-doctoral work at Stanford University from 1966-1968.
Olivera also teaches at the University of Utah.
On July 9, 2007, UP honored Olivera for his research on neuropharmacology using the venom of conesnails (carnivorous, predatory marine snails which thrive in tropical and subtropical habitats).
Cruz, on the other hand, conceptualized and established the Rural Livelihood Incubator or Rural LINC in 2001 which was meant to generate employment opportunities and establish sustainable means of livelihood as long-term solutions to poverty and socio-political instability in rural areas especially among Aetas, upland farmers, and fisherfolk.
Cruz’s scientific achievements include, among others, the elucidation of the biochemical and molecular structure, properties and mechanisms of action of conotoxins from Philippine marine snails. She has inspired and challenged Filipino and international scientists with her achievements that include her pioneering work in conotoxins.
Her expertise in marine toxinology has been recognized not only in the country but also in the international science community. In 1993, she was awarded the “Sven Brohult Award” by the International Science Foundation for Science in Sweden.
Since its first awarding in 1978, 31 National Scientists have been conferred the honor.